Biological treatment for schizophrenia: Drug Therapy Flashcards
Who conducted a large meta analysis using data from 56 randomised controlled trials (RCT’s) with over 10000 people?
Zhao et al (2016)
They found that 17 of the antipsychotics tested had significantly lower relapse rates than placebo treatment.
This means that drug treatment for schizophrenia can help avoid the emotional and financial costs of hospital treatments.
A weakness of drug treatments for sz is that a lot of the research is done on animals.
Who did research which showed that high doses of medication that can block D2 receptors in animals has severe side effects in humans.
Kapur et al (2000)
What is a further weakness of using drug treatments?
There is bias in supporting evidence because a lot of the research is funded by drug companies who promote the success of using drugs.
Therefore the success is exaggerated and doctors can make inappropriate treatment decisions.
What is the application value of using drugs to treat sz?
Deinstitutionalisation - people are now able to live in the community.
This is important because segregation of people with mental health problems into hospitals increases stigmatisation through lack of contact with the rest of the community.
How does drug treatment fit in with issues and debates?
Social Control - supporters of the anti-psychiatry movement call drug treatments ‘chemical straight jackets’.
They believe that it is wrong that some people in society have the power to control others using drugs to change their behaviour.
